THE theft of more than £176,000 from a 94-year-old Fetcham woman has been described as one of the most merciless frauds ever seen.

A succession of rogue tradesmen and con artists tricked the elderly woman out of five-figure cheques between September last year and this month.

The victim was first duped when a man by the name of Mr Matthews claimed her roof was in need of repair and offered to fix it for £48,000.

It is not known what, if any, work was carried out or the quality of any repairs.

Two months later, in November 2009, a further £23,000 was paid to Mr Matthews. Later that month a cheque for £10,000 was written to a Mr Sparrow who claimed to work for an insurance company which was overseeing the repairs.

In January this year, Mr Sparrow returned to the pensioner’s home, claiming that he needed £48,000 more because building regulations had changed. A cheque was also provided on this occasion.

Three more cheques totalling £28,000 were paid out between January and April, and then from May to June the victim handed over £19,135 in cheques made to cash.

The total amount defrauded from the woman was £176,135.

Detective Inspector David Cooper said: “This is a staggering amount of money to have been conned from an elderly lady, the kind of sustained and merciless fraud I have not seen before.

“Officers with many, many years of experience are shocked and appalled that during a six-month time span this elderly victim was persistently targeted by such heartless criminals.

“Due to the victim’s frailty we do not have descriptions of the suspects involved but I am appealing to anyone with a conscience to come forward with the names of those responsible.”

Officers are working with Trading Standards to gather intelligence against people operating in the county, and anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey Police on 0845 125 2222 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.